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RESEARCH
What do the vocal folds of mice and humans have in common?
Quite a lot, according to Christopher Watts, chairman of the
Department of Communication Sciences & Disorders. Since
coming to TCU in 2008, Watts has continued to build on his
program of research, which seeks to understand the physiology
of voice production and the treatments used to improve
voice disorders.
Watts recently applied for two external grants to support both
arms of this programmatic research, one from the National
Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute on Deafness and
Other Communication Disorders and another from the American
Speech-Language-Hearing Foundation.
“The anatomical structure of the mouse larynx (voice box) and
mouse vocal fold is very similar to humans, making the mouse a
great model to help us understand how genes, muscles and other
laryngeal tissues develop and function in humans,” said Watts.
In the last few years he has published research showing that the
proteins in the mouse vocal fold, especially the protein “elastin,”
which gives the vocal folds their elastic quality, are the same as
in humans.
Watts also has published research on humans with two genetic
conditions – Supravalvular Aortic Stenosis andWilliams Syndrome.
The two conditions share a genetic abnormality leading to
affected individuals having decreased and disorganized elastic
fibers throughout their body, which can affect their voice quality.
“We have used a mouse model of this genetic disease to show that
mice with a similar genetic makeup (genotype) have decreased
amounts of elastic proteins in their vocal folds, which might in
part explain why the voices of humans with a similar genotype are
often described as “rough” with a very low pitch.”
Watts has subsequently submitted to NIH to continue this line of
research, which will seek to measure the vocalizations of these
mice and link this vocal function to the underlying vocal fold
structure.
“Linking the protein structure of vocal folds to the actual sound
they produce is virtually impossible in living humans,” according
to Watts, “making the mouse an important animal in helping us
understand normal human voice production and disorders.”
Watts’program of research also includes an applied arm seeking to
evaluate and obtain evidence for the effectiveness of treatments
used to manage voice disorders. It is not uncommon for people
to overuse or misuse their voice, which can lead to hoarseness or
vocal nodules.
To investigate whether a newer treatment used by speech-
language pathologists, called “Stretch-and-Flow Voice Therapy”
(SFVT), is effective for improving voice function in people who
are hoarse from vocal misuse and overuse, Watts has established
a research collaboration with Ted Mau, MD, Ph.D., director of the
Clinical Center for Voice at the University of Texas Southwestern
Medical Center, and two TCU alumni, Kimberly Chachere Coker ’90
and Shelby Sloan Diviney ’06 at Baylor All-Saints’ D. Wayne Tidwell
Voice and Swallowing Center.
Watts, along with two clinical voice centers, has developed a
Randomized Clinical Trial that will compare the effects of SFVT to
an already scientifically-validated voice therapy.
“Evidence-based practice is a requirement of the speech-
language pathologist, and collaborations such as this one will
help inform clinical practice by testing whether an increasingly
used treatment can be scientifically proven to have a clinical
benefit,”Watts said. He added, “A multi-center randomized clinical
trial will be able to test the effectiveness of this voice therapy
treatment using a high quality research design, results of which
can hopefully guide clinical practice.”
OF MICE AND MEN
“The anatomical structure of the mouse
larynx (voice box) and mouse vocal fold
is
very similar to humans...”
said Watts.
research
Harris College of Nursing & Health Sciences ·
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